BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Majors take 36 credits in political science distributed across core, upper-division, elective, and seminar courses, and must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 within the major. Majors may choose to concentrate their upper-division courses in American Politics, Public Policy, or Comparative Politics/International Relations, or to maintain a “general” political science major with no concentration.

CORE COURSES

Students must take four core courses:

10100 – American Politics or 10300 – Public Policy

10004 – Comparative Politics or 10500 – World Politics

30002 – Political Thought or 30003 – Political Economy

30001 – Political Methods

Total Hours: 12

Students may take more than four of these courses and count the additional courses towards their electives (below)

UPPER-DIVISION COURSES

Political Science Majors who have selected a concentration must complete fifteen upper-division credit hours within that concentration. Students who have selected the general major may fulfill these fifteen credit hours using any POL upper-division courses, without regard for concentration categories.

American Politics

30100 – American Political Theory

30110 – Congress

30120 – Presidency and Executive Bureaucracy

30130 – Courts

30430 – Ohio Politics

30450 – Urban Politics & Policy

30460 – State Politics & Policy

40112 – Politics and the Mass Media

40116 – Public Opinion and Political Behavior

40118 – Political Parties and Interest Groups

40182 – Con. Law: Government Powers

40183 – Con. Law: Civil Rights & Liberties

40410 – Regulatory Policy

40440 – U.S. Environmental Politics & Policies

40450 – Health Care and Social Policy

40470 – Women, Politics and Policy

40620 – Politics of Social Movements

40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy

Public Policy

30300 – Public Policy Theory

30301 – Introduction to Public Administration

30310 – Public Policy Analysis

30350 – Environmental Conflict Resolution

30430 – Ohio Politics

30450 – Urban Politics & Policy

30460 – State Politics & Policy

30810 – Politics of the Global Economy

30820 – International Organizations and Law

30840 – Nongovernmental Organizations

40320 – Ethics and Public Policy

40410 – Regulatory Policy

40440 – U.S. Environmental Politics & Policies

40450 – Health Care and Social Policy

40470 – Women, Politics, and Policy

40840 – Comparative Foreign Policy

40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy

International Relations / Comparative Politics

30500 – International Relations Theory

30520 – European Politics

30530 – Asian Politics

30540 – African Politics

30550 – Latin American Politics

30551 – U.S.-Latin American Relations

30560 – Middle East Politics

30810 – Politics of the Global Economy

30820 – International Organizations and Law

30840 – Nongovernmental Organizations

40530 – Politics of War

40540 – Politics of Development

40560 – Human Rights and Social Justice

40620 – Politics of Social Movements

40840 – Comparative Foreign Policy

40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy

Total Hours: 15

ELECTIVE COURSES

In addition to their core and upper-division courses, students may select two courses as electives. These courses may be from any concentration; at least one of the two must be at the upper-division level.

Total Hours: 6

SENIOR SEMINAR COURSE

Majors are required to complete a Senior Seminar within their area of concentration. Those with the general political science major may fulfill this requirement with any of the Senior Seminars.

40191 – Seminar in American Politics

40391 – Seminar in Public Policy

40591 – Seminar in Comparative Politics/International Relations

Total Hours: 3

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

POL 40995 – Selected Topics in Political Science

The “Selected Topics” course is a class focused on a specialized topic, one in which the faculty member has some expertise. These courses are periodically offered and generally count toward the 6 elective hours and may (depending on subject matter and with approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator) count toward the upper-division requirements within a concentration.

POL 40992 – Public Service

The “public service” credits are credits earned for academic work done in conjunction with an internship. Students who have arranged an internship relevant to political science should make an appointment with the Undergraduate Advisor to discuss enrolling in these credit hours. Eligible students will have a 2.0GPA and must arrange with a faculty advisor to oversee their internship and related academic work. In most cases, students will be required to do some reading and writing assignment/s related to their internship work. Importantly, these credit hours may be used for internships in a wide range of fields. Past “public service” credit hours have been earned by students interning at the White House, for local political offices and campaign, for work with a local refugee agency, and a law firm. Whether you are interning in the public or private sector, the POL Public Service credit may be an option.

POL 40996 – Individual Investigatiion

The Individual investigation credits are utilized by students looking to pursue a specialized course of study not available through the established POL coursework. In most cases, the coursework involves extensive reading and an in-depth research paper. Students interested in pursuing an individual investigation should first determine whether there is a faculty member able to oversee the project, and then make an appointment to speak with the Undergraduate Advisor to complete the required paperwork.